Big Y

Big Y Foods, Inc. (or Big Y) is an American supermarket chain. Big Y operates stores in Massachusetts and Connecticut. It operates under the trade names "Big Y World Class Market" or "Big Y Supermarket."

In 1936, a young entrepreneur, Paul D'Amour, with aid from his brother Gerald and sisters Ann Marie, Yvette, and Gertrude, purchased the Y Cash Market in the Willimansett section of Chicopee, Massachusetts at an intersection where two roads converged at a "Y". On December 12, 1936, the brothers began Y Cash Market, the forerunner of Big Y. The company is headquartered in Springfield, Massachusetts. Big Y now is run by cousins Charles and Donald D'Amour.

Big Y is one of the largest independently owned supermarket chains in New England, and employs over 8,500 people. Big Y is the 268th-largest private company in the United States, according to the 2005 Forbes magazine "500 Largest Private Companies" list. ^{Big Y is the fourth largest supermarket chain in New England after Quincy based Stop & Shop, Scarborough based Hannaford, and West Bridgewater based Shaw's Supermarkets. Big Y is the second largest in Southern New England after the aforementioned Stop & Shop.}